Documentary of Installation of a 5-2-1 Hard-Start Capacitor & Relay Switch into a 3-ton Carrier Heat Pump

I got sick of the lights constantly dimming every time our Heat-Pump kicked in.  I read somewhere that a "hard-start" capacitor could not only ameliorate that, but also extend the life of our HVAC system and return the cost (about $30 on ebay) every few months just in electricity savings.

I had to give it a try.

This is potentially life-threatening stuff!!!

I ought not to have performed the work myself, as I am untrained.  This is only a documentary of my foolhardy behavior.


Hire a professional.

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Carrier-brand heat pumps use wiring colors that appear to be outside the industry standard, so I wanted to share my experience in case it might help someone.

(Kinda funny, considering Mr. Carrier is credited as a founder of modern air-conditioning. Also there have been murmurs of his work elongating Congressional meetings that the Founding Fathers did not foresee happening in humid Washington, D.C.)

The photographs and video are of an old-ish (maybe 2002?) heat pump that has seen some non-standard replacement parts in its day.  The contactor is a replacement part and, I think, mislabeled (it appears to me that L1 / L2 (thus, also, T1 / T2) were switched according to my limited understanding of the schematics and wiring diagram provided by Carrier Corporation).

The fan motor was replaced.  The technician apparently installed a secondary run-capacitor for it, rather than replacing the 3-pole run-capacitor.  I don't know why he chose to do so, but as our capacitors tend to degrade below spec every 2-3 years (we have near-max-allowable voltage from the mains, plus we're in a lightning-prone area), it does save us some money to replace the little guy for $6 vs. $20+ for a new 3-pole capacitor.

1 Thermostat turned to OFF

2 Heat Pump Circuit-Breaker turned to OFF

3 Heat Pump Power Physically Broken

4 Rear-View of Carrier-Provided Extra Mounting Screws

5 Carrier Label

6 Aftermarket Possibly-Mislabeled Contactor

7 Heat Pump Before Start-Capacitor Installation

8 Run-Capacitors Before Start-Capacitor Installation

Please note that in that photograph the blue wire is incorrectly connected to "C" and the yellow wire to "HERM" on the larger capacitor (it ran fine that way for quite a few years, but as following photographs will show, I put it back to normal wiring, that-is, blue-to-"HERM" and yellow-to-"C" for posterity's sake).

9 Two Screws Removed for Mounting the Relay and the Start-Capacitor

10 Relay Mounted

11 Start-Capacitor Finagling

(Please notice the small foam adhesive pad I stuck on the Start-Capacitor.  As the heat-pump did not offer a convenient spot upon which to rest the the Start-Capacitor, I was concerned that vibrations might cause it to slip out of the mounting strap.)

12 More Finagling of the Start-Capacitor

13 Even More Finagling of the Start-Capacitor

14 Start-Capacitor Strapped-In and Screwed-In

14.2 Start-Capacitor Strapped-In and Screwed-In / alternative view

15 Stripey Wire to the "HERM" terminal of the compressor's Run-Capacitor

16 Red Wire from the Start-Capacitor to the "C" terminal of the compressor's Run-Capacitor

17 Black Wire from the Start-Capacitor Relay to the Black Wires Terminal on Contactor

Here is a youtube Video of the Follow-Up.

Sorry I don't have a clamp-on amp-meter.  I do think it's running more quietly now.

Replaced the Spring in a Particular Delta Faucet Soap Dispenser

My language skills are less than what one might require: read further at your own risk.

The spring in our Delta kitchen faucet soap dispenser had broken, and at that time I had forgotten that Delta offers a lifetime guarantee on their products.

I have since received a replacement spout kit (about 20 years after my purchase!) after a bubble in the hot water line caused a pressure surge that blew off the spout.  The spout is a goose-neck style that swivels on its base.

(Our water is very acidic and our pH amelioration system has not worked in years -- green (Copper Oxide) stains are still a problem.  Sigh.)

It was Christmas-cookie baking time, and they even put a rush on the order which they also shipped for free. 

Anyway, I don't think I can recommend Delta enough!

And now Back to My Point...

The soap dispenser spring had broken and I'd forgotten about Delta's life-time guarantee for original purchasers, so I searched seriously high and low for the proper-sized spring, but did not find one.


The solution was so simple it still makes me laugh over a year later --
but this story is only for people trained-in and familiar-with safety for working with sharp , difficult and in otherwise potentially dangerous items!!  It is ONLY my STORY -- it IS NOT advice.

You could really hurt yourself, or even die!!  If you were to attempt any acts herein noted you would do so at your own risk.


(First, a reminder -- if you are the original purchaser, just contact Delta for a free replacement.)

You would probably want to have a pair of tin-snips (there are 3 styles which are differentiated by their design to go straight or curve to the left or curve to the right).  In this case, any type would work just fine.

So, we had used-up a Method™ dish-soap dispenser probably bought at a Target Store.

I managed to get the spring out of the Method bottle, snip it down to approximately-proper length, and use it as a temporary replacement.  I don't know if will survive a test of time (I suspect the sharp end at the point of snipping might abrade or otherwise wear-down the plastic parts -- perhaps some sanding-off would have been in order).

If anyone finds this interesting, please feel free to contact me for further information (e.g. photographs) -- I don't want to bother with that unless I could thereby serve as a "Good Samaritan" to you or others.

Ugly, ugly welding attempt. Hope it fixes the leak in the water heater tank...

Ugly, UGLY welding attempt (my first humble attempt at welding).  I've been trying to fix a leaky water heater tank.  Hope it fixes the leak...

(We neglected to replace the sacrificial magnesium anode rod (s) in a timely fashion.)

Any tips on filling up the grooves would be greatly appreciated. 

UPDATE: I failed.  AND I ruined the air filter in our HVAC system -- the flux-core welding wire produced so much smoke that it totally clogged up the filter (a 16x25x4 inch!!).  I thought our capacitors in the heat pump had gone bad.  (Actually, they had degraded below spec, but it was the clogged air filter that really put the damper (sorry -- I love puns) on the HVAC system in the middle of a cold winter.)

Easy Solution to Stinky Smelly Kitchen Sponges: Soak in Hydrogen Peroxide.

Love those cellulose sponges in your kitchen but can't stand the way they start to smell stinky after a while?

I've tried the microwave trick, but that stinks up the whole kitchen.

I've tried soaking them in bleach or tossing them in the top rack of the dishwasher, but that shortens the life of the sponges. (Chlorine is very corrosive to cellulose.)

Now I soak them in hydrogen peroxide for a while.

> Wash and rinse-out the sponges & squeeze dry.
> Put them in a small container or canister and slowly pour hydrogen peroxide over them until it about covers them.
> Let soak (a few hours or overnight).
> Rinse them out.

Presto! Very effective, easy and inexpensive. It appears to kill most of the microbes, and it deodorizes the sponges quite well.

*******

To help keep them from getting smelly so quickly in the first place, don't lay them flat. Stand them on edge.
(The increased surface area exposed to air will help them dry out much faster, impeding the growth of the microbes that cause the smells.

Retired post: Dell Optiplex 755 for sale

Hi! This particular post is for those in the area of SE Pennsylvania. K. Thx. Bye. :)

Dell Optiplex 755 (refurbished)

(Note: Photo is from Dell’s website. My PCs look like the largest PC shown, only used.)

Specifications:

Hardware:

PC, power cord, USB keyboard, mouse.

PC:

CPU: Intel Core2 Duo @2.33 GHz

Memory: 4 GB @ 667 MHz (on 4 DIMMs)

Hard Drive: 80 GB SATA

USB 2.0: 8 ports (2 front, 6 rear)

Network: Gigabit ethernet (10/100/1000)

Optical Drives: 1 DVD-R/W burner and 1 DVD-ROM

Video: on-motherboard Intel-Graphics VGA port)

Upgraded Video Card: PCI-e 16x AMD Radeon HD 2400 Pro/XT with 256MB on-board RAM. (OpenGL 3.3 & DirectX 10 support.)

(Notes on the upgraded video card:

> It’s designed to run 2 monitors simultaneously. You can go with 1 or 2 monitors, but in either case, a splitter adapter will be required. For normal computer monitors, you can buy a DMS-59-to-dual VGA adapter @$5.00 or DMS-59-to-dual DVI-D adapter @$7.00.)

> If you plan to use a TV set for the main display you can buy S-Video cables @$3.00 or S-Video-to-RCA adapters @$6.00.

Software:

Installed Operating Systems (choose either one each time you start up or reboot the computer):

1: Microsoft Windows XP (note that Microsoft has officially ceased supporting Windows XP – I have installed Mozilla Firefox (currently still being updated and developed by Mozilla) and Google Chrome web browsers (Google has ceased development for its Chrome browser on Windows XP). I suggest using Linux for the most internet use because of its vastly better security features compared to Windows XP. (For general gaming, XP has the upper hand due to its better video card drivers; also many games are not available for Linux.)

2: Linux Mint (xfce Desktop, others Desktops easily added, e.g. KDE, Cinnamon, MATE). Based on Ubuntu Linux, support is strong and updates are regular and mostly self-installing – you will see a pop-up asking if you want to install updates – all that is usually required is your okay, much like Microsoft Windows updates.)

(I have divided the hard drive between the two Operating Systems – about 30GB for Windows XP and 50GB for Linux Mint. If you would prefer to have only Linux or only Windows XP on the computer, I can set that up for you.)

If you need a video monitor, I may be able to give you an old CRT-type display for free, or a more modern LCD display for $15 to $25.

****

Upgradability (Internal upgrades) (easy-open & easy-lock chassis – no screws)

CPU: Intel Core2 Quad-Cores cleared by Dell for the Optiplex 755:

Q6700, Q9400, Q9550, Q9650

Memory:

8GB PC6400 @800MHz or PC5300 @667 MHz (4 slots, 2GB max per slot)

(Notes:

1: Dell strongly suggests installing memory DIMMs in matching pairs for optimal system performance.

2: If you add 800 MHz DIMMs without removing all 667 MHz DIMMs, the 800 MHz DIMMs will operate at only 667 MHz.)

Hard Drive: One extra bay including a slide-in bracket and power plug. External drives can be added via the USB 2.0 ports or NAS (Network-Attached Storage) or by buying and installing FireWire or eSATA or USB 3.0/3.1 add-in PCIe or PCI cards.

Floppy Disc Drive: There is no legacy floppy disc drive installed, and probably no desire for one, but there is an unused 3.25 inch bay under the DVD drives and a floppy disc data cable and power supply plug are inside the case already should you choose to add one. You could also buy a USB floppy drive.

USB 3.0 or 3.1: Install a card in the open PCIe 1x slot.

Network: If you have a WiFi network, you can plug in a USB-to-WiFi dongle OR install a WiFi card in one of the PCI slots.

SATA ports: internal ports. (3 are in use by the installed hard drive and the 2 DVD drives. You could take out the DVD-ROM and just use the remaining DVD-RW, freeing another space and cable for another 3.5” SATA hard drive with a 3.5” to 5.25” drive-bay adapter.)

Video card:

PCIe 16x FULL HEIGHT (currently populated by the Radeon card noted above). The power supply is rated 305 watts maximum sustained, so you may need to upgrade that as well if you plan to upgrade to a power-hungry video card.

Legacy PCI slots: 2 open

PCI-e x1 slot: 1 open

Optical Drives: either or both replaceable with Blu-Ray DVD-ROM or Blu-Ray DVD-R/W

Turn it into a television DVR: add

> a big hard drive,

> a TV or cable tuner, and

> the free MythTV software.

Note: If you want to install Windows 10, I only tried once with 8GB RAM, and it seemed very responsive. Supposedly Windows 10 runs acceptably with 4GB RAM, but I haven’t tried that. From what I’ve read, Windows 10 can be rather intrusive and potentially a greater privacy risk, but it did look pretty good on the Optiplex 755 with 8GB RAM. I’ve applied to Microsoft’s Certified Refurbisher program, but I haven’t heard back yet. If I get it, I could install Windows 10 (or 7 or 8) for you then at some sort of discount, but there’s no certainty. To buy a full retail license yourself costs anywhere from $20 (download) to $200+ (retail physical DVD) what I’ve seen on eBay.

****

Other potential uses:

>Could be a great gift and learning “toy” for a curious young mind, but only for one who is aware and respectful of the dangers inherent in tinkering with potentially deadly electrical things.

>A family project for Minecraft gamers.

(I don’t mean to downplay the capability of these machines! With 4GB of RAM, they play full 1080p HD youtube video without breaking a sweat.)

>Turn it into a NAS box and/or family server.

***

Designed for an office environment, these computers operate very quietly under normal loads. (I’m not a gamer or animation designer or video editor, so I don’t know how loud they may get when given a hard workout). In my experience, the large CPU fan with its massive heat sink is very quiet, and the power supply fan as well.

I have several of these available if you want to set up family or friends with the same machine you’re running so you can support them more easily.

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If you’re interested, please check ebay, etc., for similar systems. I think you will find this to be a very good deal!

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Cash or Paypal only – but I would consider trades for part or all of the cost.

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